- 3.5-inch Touch Screen Navigation with Turn by Turn spoken Directions
- Pre-loaded Maps for all North America, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico with 6.5 million searchable points of interest
- FM Traffic or MSN Direct Traffic/Content compatible (with optional GDB 55 receiver)
- Easy to Use Interface; slim, pocket-sized form factor; 4-hour rechargeable battery; Vehicle power cable included;
- Automatically Adjusts Your Time Zone While Navigating
Product Description
For peace of mind on the go, nüvi 255 leads the way with voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions that speak street names and optional MSN Direct® to get you there on time and keep you informed. It’s packed with millions of destinations and maps for North America. Like the rest of the compact nüvi 2×5-series, this portable navigator is priced right and ultra-easy to use.
Navigate With Ease
nüvi 255 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator® NT street maps, including a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with turn-by-turn voice directions, 2-D or 3-D maps and smooth map updates as you navigate. Its digital elevation maps show you shaded contours at higher zoom levels, giving you a big… More >>
Garmin nüvi 255 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
April 13th, 2010 at 8:50 am
I ordered this item over a month ago, and have not received it! This is a review of Amazon, and Amazon gets an F! I want my money back!
Rating: 1 / 5
April 13th, 2010 at 11:22 am
I bought this GPS over six months ago and it has never worked right. It may be because I mistakenly “skipped” the initial satellite search during set up. I was inside so I figured it wouldn’t find the satellites so I hit skip (thinking I could do this later). What they don’t tell you is that you CAN’T ever get this option again and that the satellites will never properly work if you hit skip. My satellites come in and out on a daily basis and especially get bad on cloudy days or when the car is moving (which is most of the time right?). I may just have a defective unit also. I called technical support and they said to download the latest software update (but there are none). So then I recently called back they suggested to get a repair RMA (after holding for over 15 minutes). It’s caused me to be late for a tennis match, a wedding and numerous other events because it will work OK for a while and then inexplicably loose the satellites and never be able to recover. It just stays in a loop of “Acquiring Satellites” forever and when you are late and in traffic it’s obviously very frustrating not knowing where you are going. I eventually just stopped using it for a while, then it worked OK if I reset the unit almost daily. Then I finally figured out the factory reset (where you loose all your stored data) and that did seem to work. To sum up, this unit has caused me much frustration. I really liked Garmin before this but my Nuvi 255 has been poor.
Rating: 1 / 5
April 13th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
First off, this was my first GPS experience (other than cell phones) so I’m completely unbiased as far as being used to a different system.
In planning a big trip, I decided that a GPS would be a wise investment. Never having used a GPS, I thought I’d test the water….trying out a low end model of one brand and a high end brand of another in order to answer two questions: which operating system do I prefer and…are all those features worth the extra money? So, I went with the Magellan 4700 (it was a lightning deal and a great price) and the Magellan Nuvi 755.
Which interface is best? Magellan. Hands down. It is MUCH easier to enter new addresses, cities, etc. It has an easily accessible and programmable address book. The Garmin confuses me…and I’m not easily confused by electronics.
Which is faster? The Garmin starts up much faster than the Magellan…but other than that, they’re on par.
Battery life? Garmin wins this battle. But who cares if you use it in your car?
Etc? Magellan has a feature where you can see a list of all the turns on your entire journey. I LOVE this feature and can’t seem to find it on the Garmin. Finding detours on the Garmin is difficult (though, this could be because it doesn’t have all the traffic features). Knowing whats at upcoming exits is MUCH easier on the Magellan. Garmin tells you the distance to all sorts of gas, hotels, and food places. But Magellan tells you the distance to each exit and by pressing ONE BUTTON, you can find out what is at that exit. Waaaay easier than Garmin. The manual for Garmin is much better and more detailed.
Are the features worth it? Absolutely!!!!! The voice recognition on on the 4700 is a little tricky only because the manual is not helpful…but once I figured it out, it worked wonderfully well (even in my old, noisy CRV…with the radio on quietly). The traffic gives you advance warnings of accidents and pretty quickly too. It notified me of an accident on I295 less than 10 minutes after it had occured (emergency vehicles were arriving just as I passed the accident). Detours come up quickly and easily. The AAA tour book is also nice….but I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy this feature.
Overall, the only important category that Garmin wins is time to start up. Its so difficult to use, that I planned to return it long before I even tried the Magellan.
Now, I find myself using Magellan every day…. In order to prepare myself for any upcoming traffic problems.
Rating: 3 / 5
April 13th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
This garmin sucks when it entered into the city. It always show you the route through the interstate or state highway. But it picks up the signal very well. When you starts your journey from a point it says “Drive the highlighted route”. Initial starting should be good. It is fantastic to find any hotels even in huge Arizona desert. Maps are kinda outdated and it doesn’t have any updated maps where the highway is closed for repair. But if you need a GPS to go to point A to point B then nice.
Rating: 3 / 5
April 13th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Actually, there is little wrong with the nuvi 255 I bought. It works well. But, what is included in the box is not well defined. What does “Video Power cable included” mean? I made an assumption that it was a USB cable and ordered an auto 12v adaptor with my 255 as Amazon stated it was “what others also ordered”. Wrong! An auto 12v adaptor was included, but NO USB cable. If you look at the Amazon page describing the nuvi 255, a USB connection is mentioned many times. Programming the 255 with your computer is one of the main features. One would think Garmin would include a USB cable or at least Amazon would accurately indicate what is in the box. Bad grade – Garmin. Bad grade – Amazon
I wound up ordering a USB cable from a retailer on Amazon (AccessoriesZone). To pile more crap on, the cable I received was advertized for the nuvi 255, but did not fit. The Garmin end of the cable was wrong. AccessoriesZone is sending another USB cable, but there is no guarantee it will fit. In the meantime, I have 2 auto 12v adaptors and a bum USB cable.
I love the 255, but I feel Amazon and Garmin misled me on this one. The jury is still out for AccessoriesZone.
Rating: 2 / 5